Video Game review thread

I've been wanting to make a thread like this... but I've never had the time to, until now ... so here goes nothing.

This is the place for you to share any good reviews that you've found (link and give credit to those who originally wrote them and such), and to post any that you've done.

Keep in mind that this is a family friendly forum, so if there are any M-rated games you review (or link to), don't go into detail (and make sure any linked reviews don't have any real detail violence wise and such) about the games (in terms of gore, etc.).

I'll start things off with one of my oldies.

---------------------------------------

My Review of the game Tetris – [Game Boy version]

Tetris is a well-known puzzle game that was created by Alexey Pazhitnov in 1985. He invented it while he was working for the Academy of Sciences in Moscow. This took place in Russia during the days of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. He has said that pentodominoes were one of the sources of inspiration for the game of Tetris.

Its name is taken from the Greek word “tetra”, which means four, as all of the blocks are made of four parts. Tetris consistently shows up on lists of the best video games of all time, due to its challenging levels and many different forms of the game itself. It has been on almost every modern computer and game system that was ever made; and due to this, it is believed to be one of the best selling video games of all time.

Game play

Seven randomly rendered tetrodominoes or tetrads – shapes made up of four blocks a piece – fall down the playing area. The point in this game is to move these blocks with the goal of creating a horizontal line of blocks without any holes or gaps. When a line like this is made, it disappears and the blocks that are above it [if there are any] fall down. As the game goes on, the blocks will start to move faster, and the game finally ends when the stack of blocks reaches the top of the playing area.

The seven rendered blocks [tetrodominoes] in Tetris are referred to as I, T, O, L, J, S, and Z. All are able of making single and double line clears. Blocks that are capable of making triple line clears are the I, L, and J blocks. Only the I block is capable of clearing four lines at once. This is known as a “tetris”. This sometimes differs, depending on the rotation and compensation rules of each different, specific version of Tetris.

For example, in the rules of “Tetris Worlds” [these rules have been used in many newer versions of the game], certain rare situations allow S, T, and Z to go [‘snap’] into tight areas, thus helping to make triple clears.
I like the game play in Tetris; it never ceases to amaze me, how many different combinations that you can make in order to make lines of 1, 2, 3, and 4.

I never tire of it myself. I keep on coming back to this game time after time just to see if I can beat my own high score of 136 lines. It is definitely a challenging game that is of the highest order of puzzle games, a complete class act all the way. Even after 21 years, it still continues to gain new fans who are captivated by the challenging and fast game play of this wonderful puzzle game.

I give Tetris a score of 9.5 out of 10 in the area of Game play.

Can you actually play forever?

A specific version of the game that does not have very responsive controls, so it fails to keep up with itself when the blocks’ downward speed goes past the maximum lateral velocity that the player can apply to the block.

In other words, the possibilities for the blocks’ movement become limited to the shape of a cone in the game area when the game gets faster in the higher levels. Some people think that this makes this game even more of a challenge, while others consider this to be a design flaw.

The players can no longer keep up with the fast speed at which the blocks are coming down at [this happens to me every so often when I play Tetris].

Music/Soundtrack

The theme that is used in the Game Boy version of Tetris [Music A], is a well known Russian folk tune called “Korobeiniki” or “Korobeyniki”.

The soundtrack in Tetris is decent enough, even though when I play it, I play the game with the sound off in order to keep my concentration on the game itself.

I give Tetris a score of 8.5 out of 10 in the Music/Soundtrack area.

Controls

The controls in this game are really simple. All you basically use is the D-Pad [Control Pad] in order to move the blocks around and flip them around to all of their different positions. When you press the Start button, it pauses the game.

I give Tetris a score of 9.5 out of 10 for its easy to use controls.

Graphics

The graphics in the Game Boy version of Tetris are pure old school. They are very basic 8-bit graphics. I have no problem with them though; they are just the background of the game anyways, and it’s the game itself that really matters not so much the graphics themselves.

They do not stretch the Game Boy to its limits like later games do, but like I had just said; it doesn’t make that much of a difference.

I give Tetris a score of 7 out of 10 for its simple graphics.

Multi-Player Mode and A-Type Game and B-Type Game [The Extras]

The two player mode in the Game Boy version of Tetris is just a joy to play. I’ve played it with a friend awhile back and we had a blast. You get to choose who you want to play, either Mario or Luigi, and then see who can get the most lines formed before you reach the top of the game play area.

The A-Type game is the regular Standard mode of Tetris. You have to try and get as many lines as you can as the levels get progressively harder and faster. It is fun to play and I have had many games in Tetris where I have gotten 50 lines or higher, and it’s not an easy feat to accomplish. It takes quite a bit of practice to get good at it.

The B-Type game is where you get 25 lines down 0 lines, by making lines of 1, 2, 3, and 4 in order to reach that goal. This game can be challenging, depending on the level that you choose to play on.

I give Tetris a score of 8 out of 10 in the area of Multi-Player Mode and A-Type Game and B-Type Game [The Extras].

Likes and Dislikes

I like the games’ challenges [how the level gets faster and even harder as you go up levels, how the pieces come at you completely at random and when you play against others, it can be interesting as well; due to the fact that the way they play may differ in some ways then yours’].

The only thing that I dislike about this game is that one of the songs from the soundtrack [Game Boy version]; Music B gets on my nerves. It’s an ok song, but it can be rather annoying after listening to it for quite awhile.

Overall

Overall, Tetris is a very fun video game to play. There’s not much that I dislike about this game and there is more than enough to keep me playing for many years to come. It is definitely one of my all-time favorite video games due to its many challenges and its incredible game play.

I recommend this game to anyone who enjoys playing puzzle games. It doesn’t matter how old or young you are, this game entertains all and keeps them hooked. It isn’t everyday that a game like this comes along, and I hope that others will enjoy it as much as I have.

I give Tetris an Overall score of 9 out of 10.

Sources

My thanks go out to Wikipedia.com, for its extensive amount of information on the game of Tetris; including the history of the game, names of some of the songs from the soundtrack of the Game Boy version of the game and the information on how game play in Tetris works.

The information on the A-Game, B-Game, Multi-Player mode and the rest of this review came from me playing my own copy of the game.

But I have plenty of other reviews and gaming articles in the link in my sig here.

I'm planning on writing about Lego HP this month and Halo Reach.

Thanks snapegirl !

Awesome, I'll go and check it out.

Cool, I've been working on a 3 Mario games review recently (Super Mario Bros, Super Mario 2: The Lost Levels and New Super Mario Bros Wii)... with a kind of compare and contrast thing between all of them. Haven't been working on it lately though due to real life... but I still enjoy writing reviews every so often.

I have more that I'll be posting here in the future, that I wrote back when Nintendo's forums (NSider) was still up and running.

__________________

RIP Uncle Bob . 1933-2016 Thanks for everything and thanks for the memories. We love you and miss you.

Hey I am really interested in Video Games...Thanx for sharing the Video games reviews with us....I like the reviews so much.....I have played so many Video games But Takken 3,Super Mario,Street Fighter are mine fav Video games ever......

_______________

Be a part of fun magazine which is made by youth for youth.....
Play online flash games for free @ onlinegamesway.com Come in and play game without any registration..